It's wonderful to start a new language but there's something I wonder about Japanese. It's hard to find something to start with. How to learn Japanese?

First I believe you should learn Hirigana and (although not so much) Katakana. However, then you are a little stuck. Should you learn Kanji maybe? Vocabulary? Grammar and Sentence structure? Etc. In beginning such a language as Japanese I find it hard to look for where to go next. I'm in an exposed environment so I would like to understand as well as respond. However, to do that you need to know a little of all of the three listed above. My question is, where should I start? I know Hirigana and Katakana (not so much, but I can manage because I'm constantly being exposed to it). I know only a few level 4 Kanji and I've taken some of the grammar and vocabulary to heart. Where to begin now?

I really believe one key to learning Japanese is to hit kanji early on.

When I arrived in Japan, there were several others who came about the same time and had about the same level of Japanese as I. They mainly concentrated on learning conversational phrases and such and I worked more on kanji (while learning some useful phrases). After a few months, it seemed they were doing much better than I, but I didn't give up. After about a year I noticed their abilities were limited while I was doing much better.

Kanji is funny in that it contains meaning as well as a pronunciation. If you put two meanings together you can make a third meaning. Therefore you often can understand words you have never seen or heard just because you recognize the kanji from which it is made.

Conversation is very important, but I believe the key is with kanji. This is especially true with the JLPT.

Edit: Also, how would you suggest learning the kanji? right now I'm only learning the pronunciation that is in red, however should I learn all of the readings? I don't expect to speak too much japanese for right now but is it always good to know all of the readings (along with what they mean of course...)?

Last edited by BBKT on Thu 01.27.2005 9:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I suggest getting this book in the Japan Shop, it teaches you about 300 of the neccisary kanji and how to remember them easily (I learned the one on the cover just by reading it once!) It's 10 bucks and I'm betting it's worth your money (I plan on getting it soon).

Hello everyone! I am a new member on this site, but have been interested in learning Japanese for a while now, as it is one of the most beautiful and interesting languages I have heard so far. I don't know if you find this a bit silly, but I would like to recommend watching Japanese Anime if you want to learn. I myself have found some very good use of it, and practically everything I have learned I owe to watching those series. You get a really good sense of how to pronounce different words and syllables, and you pick up daily expressions and chargons amazingly fast! This is actually how I was first introduced to the language, and have been urging to learn more ever since. I know some of these series can be quite sleasy at times, but after a while you learn which ones to avoid. Most of them are funny and entertaining, and some are just delightful pieces of art! Just a suggestion...

Anyway, thank you, Clay, for this great site! I will join as often as I can.

The best way to learn, I find, is to simply to make Japanese friends in real life. If you can't do this, penpals are an excellent alternative. Also, if you would like to practice your kanji I recommend downloading the Kanji Gold program. It is the best tool for memorizing Kanji using a computer.

I still find that making FLASHCARDS is the most effective way to memorizing Japanese. I started learning much faster and found it much easier to recall items and remember, constantly test yourself!